Loreto Lancia

European nursing students' academic success or failure: A post-Bologna Declaration systematic review

OBJECTIVES The aim of this systematic review is to synthesise the available evidence in the European scientific literature produced after the Bologna Declaration and to evaluate studies that quantify and examine the factors associated with the academic success or failure of nursing students. DESIGN A systematic review of the literature was conducted. DATA SOURCES Major health literature databases were searched for studies published from 2000 to 2011. REVIEW METHODS This review includes only European observational studies that were submitted to a quality assessment by two researchers before inclusion. RESULTS Only five studies were included in this review. There are discordant results regarding the predictors of success or failure, which were common objects of study (gender, age, qualification on entry, ethnic group). other factors were studied individually (student personality, gendered view of nursing careers, intention to leave, family commitments, working while on course, student performance, clinical learning environment) need to be confirmed in additional studies. Although the predictors may be relevant at the local level, given their low external validity and the conflicting results, it is not possible to state with certainty that these factors are effectively predictive of success or failure in the context of post-Bologna Declaration Europe. CONCLUSIONS This review showed that over the last ten years, in the European context, only a few high-quality observational studies have been performed. In this regard, given the small number and heterogeneity of the available studies, there is little useful evidence available for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to effectively address the problem. In the future, European researchers should focus not only on the documentation of the predictors but also on the documentation of the outcomes produced by the HEI strategies that have been implemented to prevent avoidable academic failure and contain physiological academic failure.

Percutaneous and mucocutaneous exposures in nursing students: an Italian observational study.

PURPOSE To investigate occupational exposures to biological material potentially infected by blood-borne viruses in nursing student population during the course years. DESIGN AND METHODS An observational retrospective study was designed. Data were collected in May 2007. Two-thousand-two-hundred-fifteen nursing students from the 3 years of degree course were enrolled in the four Italian universities. A structured questionnaire was constructed and was given out unannounced to nursing students in four universities on a randomly chosen day. The likelihood of association between nursing student exposure and certain assumed risk factors was measured. FINDINGS The exposure risk is associated with each study year of nursing students. Specifically, the probability of accidental exposure is reduced significantly with the increase of clinical skills during the training period. The risk for exposure in the 1st year students appears significantly higher than in those of the next years (odds ratio [OR] 1.465; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.105-1.943). Data highlighted a gradual increase of bio-safety knowledge in nursing students from the 1st to the 3rd years of study. However, a statistically significant association exists only between awareness of a correct use of gloves and exposure risk (OR 0.435; 95%CI 0.227-0.834). Mucocutaneous exposures are more frequent than percutaneous exposures (62.2%), and the hollow-bore needle is the device most often involved. In 42.5% of cases, accidental exposures occurred when nursing students are working alone in a medical ward or surgery area. CONCLUSIONS During their clinical training, nursing students can encounter a real risk for percutaneous and mucocutaneous exposures to blood potentially infected with blood-borne viruses. However, this risk is reduced with an increase in clinical skills. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results show that some new strategies are necessary for exposure risk reduction such as development of simulation laboratories for nursing practice and the adequate presence of tutors in clinical training education.

Academic success or failure in nursing students: Results of a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND Nursing student academic failure is a phenomenon of growing international interest, not only because of its economic impact but also because it negatively affects the availability of future nurses in different healthcare systems. To recruit the students with the highest probability of academic success, an open challenge for universities is to recruit students who have previously demonstrated superior scholastic aptitudes that appear to be associated with a greater likelihood of academic success. Documenting the relationship between the selection methods used when selecting nursing students and academic failure will contribute to the international debate concerning the optimisation of the selection strategies. OBJECTIVES The principal aim of this study was to investigate the role in predicting nursing student academic success of (1) the upper-secondary diploma grades and (2) the score obtained by students in the nursing degree program admission test. DESIGN A retrospective observational study was conducted. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS Five cohorts of nursing students, matriculated in consecutive academic years from 2004 to 2008, in an Italian bachelors degree program were observed retrospectively. RESULTS Overall, 61.2% of the 1006 considered students concluded their degree within the legal duration allowed for the nursing degree. Students who failed were those who had lowest grades associated with their upper-secondary diploma coursework (p=0.000) and were male (p=0.000). The grades associated with the upper-secondary diploma coursework, unlike the admission test score, correlates positively with the final degree grade and the average value of degree program examination scores. No correlation was found between the upper-secondary diploma coursework grades and the scores obtained in the test for the nursing degree program admission test (r=-0.037). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that upper-secondary diploma coursework grades are a parameter that should receive great consideration, especially in cases where there are planned numbers of incoming nursing degree students.

Ethical difficulties in nursing, educational needs and attitudes about using ethics resources:

Ethical difficulties arise in healthcare practices. However, despite extensive research findings that demonstrate that most nurses are involved in recurrent ethical problems, institutions are not always able to effectively support nursing care professionals. The limited availability of ethics consultation services and traditional nursing training fails to meet the frequent and strong requests by health workers to support their ethical dilemmas. A questionnaire was administered to 374 nurses attending a specialist training and a lifetime learning programme in Italy. The respondents reported a high frequency of ethically sensitive situations, and they described the poor development of ethics support and a scarcity of ethics training programmes. The results suggest the importance of promoting ethics services that include consultation and ethics training. A need for systematic ethics educational activities was identified for improving the capacity of nurses to manage ethical issues in patient care.

A comparison between EASI system 12-lead ECGs and standard 12-lead ECGs for improved clinical nursing practice

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES This study was carried out to verify the accuracy of 12-Lead ECG, obtained through a continuous ECG monitoring system with five cables positioned in EASI mode, to identify basic ECG alterations. BACKGROUND This study concerns continuous ECG monitoring systems in Coronary Care Units. Continuous ECG monitoring is an important device for nursing surveillance and is useful in decreasing adverse events. DESIGN AND METHOD Thirteen patients admitted consecutively to the Coronary Care Unit for Acute Myocardial Infarction underwent daily and simultaneous recording of a12-lead ECG using both procedures: EASI ECG and STANDARD ECG. A sample of 1,164 ECG leads acquired in EASI mode was compared with a sample of as many ECG leads acquired using the standard procedure with a traditional cardiograph. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS In the Coronary Care Unit, Continous ECG monitoring with five cables positioned in EASI mode is a valid alternative to the standard 12-lead ECG for cardiac rhythm abnormalities detection and for acute myocardial ischemia and old myocardial infarction assessment. Therefore, the EASI system might be advantageous for long-term patient monitoring. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE The EASI system represents a valid device for the nursing surveillance of patients who need continuous ECG monitoring, improves clinical nursing practice in Coronary Care Units, supports the reduction of adverse events such as cardiac arrest and reduces the hospital costs.

Empathy in health professional students: A comparative cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND It has been shown that empathy strengthens the relationship between patients and health professionals and also improves patient and health professional satisfaction, which helps promote the best clinical outcomes. Empathy is considered an essential prerequisite for a nurse to effectively care for a patient and for a holistic understanding of a patients perspective in a student population. OBJECTIVES The main aim was to compare empathy levels between health professional students attending different university courses. DESIGN A comparative study with a cross-sectional approach was conducted in two successive academic year cohorts of 1st year health professional students at a public Italian university. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS A sample of 1st year health professional students at a public Italian university was investigated using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Health Professional Students version (JSE-HPS). RESULTS Overall, 502 health professional students were included in the study. The students in nursing showed significantly higher empathy levels than the students in other health professions. Furthermore, the female students were found to exhibit significantly more overall empathy than the male students were. CONCLUSIONS The undergraduate nursing students showed a significantly higher mean score of empathy measured by the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Health Professional Students version (JSE-HPS) than the students attending other health undergraduate courses. This could mean that a particular aptitude in establishing a help-relationship with other people exists among the students that choose to become a nurse.

Literature-Based Analysis of the Potentials and the Limitations of Using Simulation in Nursing Education

“Simulation,” in terms of its application in nursing education, is the imitation and replication of some of, or nearly all, the fundamental aspects of a clinical situation to strengthen comprehension and teach best practices.

Sleep and Quality of Life in People With COPD: A Descriptive-Correlational Study.

Sleep disorders are very common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it is not clear how sleep disorders and quality of life (QoL) affect each other in the different stages of disease progression. This descriptive-correlational study investigated the relationship between QoL, quality of sleep, and degree of disease progression in 102 outpatients with COPD. The results showed that the QoL in patients with COPD is compromised and worsens with disease progression, and the quality of sleep is significantly associated with QoL and worsened as the disease progressed. The early identification of a risk of alteration of the quality of sleep, especially in nursing care, could facilitate a preventive approach for COPD patients that could positively affect their QoL.

[ICNP- International Classification of Nursing Practice: origin, structure and development].

ICNP is a standardized nursing terminology included within acknowledged terminologies by WHO, it is a relevant aspect of ICN programs and strategies. This paper aims to describe structure and characteristics of ICNP terminology as well as to highlight how this tool can be useful both in practice and in terms of nursing professional development. This version looks like a pyramid with seven axes describing different areas of nursing and related interventions, enriched by two special axes related to pre-coordinated Diagnosis / Outcomes (DC) and Operations (IC) which facilitate daily use in practice. In order to clarify how this tool can be actually be used in daily nursing practice some examples are provided, clarifying how adopting the current version of ICNP terminology (2015 release) Diagnosis/Outcomes and Interventions can be built. The ICNP Italian Centre is committed to introduce it to Italian nurses as a tool for sharing and disseminating terminology in our Country, having as main final aim to achieve even in Italy, professional visibility objectives promoted in different ways by the International Council of Nurses.

Complexity of care: a concept analysis.

BACKGROUND In spite of the high number of tools designed to measure the complexity of care, there is still great diversity in the meaning of this concept. METHODS The study was carried out using the concept analysis method as described by Beth Rodgers; 27 international papers were selected using PubMed, Web of Science and CINAHL data sets, without any time constraints. RESULTS A number of similar concepts relating to multiplicity, intensity of care and workload were selected. The antecedents were classified according to personal and clinical features of patients, the characteristics of care, the social and organizational features; the tools that emerged measure the risk of complexity of care. Among the consequences, those that emerged were related to patients, operators and organization. The two attributes of complexity of care are connected with measurement, on the one side, and uncertainly, on the other. CONCLUSIONS As difficult as it is to define complexity of care, the analysis states that its classification should be targeted at redefining hospital organization.